Tag Archives: Pregnancy Termination Services

Meta and Google face claims of restricting reproductive health ads and fueling misinformation

Posted on by

A new report found Meta and Google are restricting reproductive health information in Asia, Africa and Latin America. MSI Reproductive Choices and the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which partnered on the report, claim that the companies have restricted local abortion providers' ads and allowed misinformation to fester, among other misdoings. 

Take Mexico, which decriminalized abortion in 2023 but where services are not yet legal in all 32 of its states. Meta won't allow MSI to share abortion-related ad content in the country due to remaining bans. However, the local team reported that other sexual and reproductive health content has also received blocks. MSI's teams in Nepal and Vietnam echoed this issue, with Meta allegedly removing ads promoting cervical cancer screenings and information on IUDs and contraceptive pills, respectively. MSI now has a "blanket advertising ban" from Meta in the two countries and claims the company provided no clear justification. Ghana's team reported Google blocked their ads with the phrase "pregnancy options."

"Women and girls are being neglected by these major tech platforms who are putting their bottom lines above the public good," Whitney Chinogwenya, marketing specialist at MSI Reproductive Choices, said in a statement. "Accurate online information is a lifeline for those seeking timely care and facts about their reproductive options. Yet anti-choice groups are able to spread disinformation and toxic narratives online with impunity. And what is worse, platforms like Google and Meta are currently enabling, and profiting from this dangerous propaganda." 

MSI's teams in Ghana, Kenya and Nepal expressed difficulty connecting with Meta and receiving information on why their ads were limited — though Bangladesh's team was able to get in contact and resolve their issues. Kenya, Nigeria and Vietnam faced another problem: imitation Facebook pages and websites, sometimes with nothing different than a phone number. MSI requested that Meta and Google remove these scammers (some of which requested money from prospective clients) but claims the companies delayed action or took none. 

Researchers gathered evidence through correspondence and interviews with MSI's teams in locations such as Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa and Vietnam. Further information came from an analysis of Meta's Ad Library, which the report claims showed evidence of the company displaying and profiting from false or misleading anti-abortion ads in Ghana and Mexico. Users reportedly in these two countries viewed these ads up to one million times between 2019 and 2024. Approved ads included claims that "global powers and international companies" paid for decriminalizing abortion movements to "eliminate the Mexican population."

The report also looks at abuse directed at MSI's workers in Kenya, which the organization claimed Meta turns a "blind eye" towards. Ghana's team reported anti-choice organizations have used WhatsApp, a Meta-owned platform, to pedal conspiracies around family planning being a method to depopulate Africa and MSI's workers "introducing 'satanic' sexual education in schools to 'destroy the youth.'" 

The Center for Countering Digital Hate's CEO and founder, Imran Ahmed, accuses social media companies of mining "users' personal data in the Global South but take little care to protect local human rights and civil liberties. It reeks of colonialism — the greed, arrogance and double standards in how they treat less-wealthy markets. They have little regard or understanding of the complex cultural and political factors that can deprive people of their legal right to reproductive healthcare, nor do they grasp that the uneven application of their own content moderation policies greatly exacerbates these problems."

According to Google, it can't say why any ad or campaign was blocked without seeing the specific ad or advertiser account. It also said that ads targeting the term pregnancy options in Ghana and the other countries listed aren't prohibited. “This report does not include a single example of policy violating content on Google’s platform, nor any examples of inconsistent enforcement," a Google spokesperson told Engadget. "Without evidence, it claims that some ads were blocked in Ghana for referencing ‘pregnancy options’. To be clear, these types of ads are not prohibited from running in Ghana – if the ads were restricted, it was likely due to our longstanding policies against targeting people based on sensitive health categories, which includes pregnancy.”

Meta is reviewing the findings, but spokesperson, Ryan Daniels told The Guardian: "We allow posts and ads promoting healthcare services, as well as discussion and debate around them. Content about reproductive health must follow our rules, including those on prescription drugs and misinformation, and ads promoting reproductive health products or services may only be targeted to people 18-plus. We prohibit ads that include misinformation or mislead people about services a business provides, and we will review the content of this report."

Engadget has reached out to Meta for further comment. 

Update, March 28 2024, 10:20PM ET: This article has been updated to include a statement and further information from Google. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-and-google-face-claims-of-restricting-reproductive-health-ads-and-fueling-misinformation-132913618.html?src=rss

Meta and Google face claims of restricting reproductive health ads and fueling misinformation

Posted on by

A new report found Meta and Google are restricting reproductive health information in Asia, Africa and Latin America. MSI Reproductive Choices and the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which partnered on the report, claim that the companies have restricted local abortion providers' ads and allowed misinformation to fester, among other misdoings. 

Take Mexico, which decriminalized abortion in 2023 but where services are not yet legal in all 32 of its states. Meta won't allow MSI to share abortion-related ad content in the country due to remaining bans. However, the local team reported that other sexual and reproductive health content has also received blocks. MSI's teams in Nepal and Vietnam echoed this issue, with Meta allegedly removing ads promoting cervical cancer screenings and information on IUDs and contraceptive pills, respectively. MSI now has a "blanket advertising ban" from Meta in the two countries and claims the company provided no clear justification. Ghana's team reported Google blocked their ads with the phrase "pregnancy options."

"Women and girls are being neglected by these major tech platforms who are putting their bottom lines above the public good," Whitney Chinogwenya, marketing specialist at MSI Reproductive Choices, said in a statement. "Accurate online information is a lifeline for those seeking timely care and facts about their reproductive options. Yet anti-choice groups are able to spread disinformation and toxic narratives online with impunity. And what is worse, platforms like Google and Meta are currently enabling, and profiting from this dangerous propaganda." 

MSI's teams in Ghana, Kenya and Nepal expressed difficulty connecting with Meta and receiving information on why their ads were limited — though Bangladesh's team was able to get in contact and resolve their issues. Kenya, Nigeria and Vietnam faced another problem: imitation Facebook pages and websites, sometimes with nothing different than a phone number. MSI requested that Meta and Google remove these scammers (some of which requested money from prospective clients) but claims the companies delayed action or took none. 

Researchers gathered evidence through correspondence and interviews with MSI's teams in locations such as Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa and Vietnam. Further information came from an analysis of Meta's Ad Library, which the report claims showed evidence of the company displaying and profiting from false or misleading anti-abortion ads in Ghana and Mexico. Users reportedly in these two countries viewed these ads up to one million times between 2019 and 2024. Approved ads included claims that "global powers and international companies" paid for decriminalizing abortion movements to "eliminate the Mexican population."

The report also looks at abuse directed at MSI's workers in Kenya, which the organization claimed Meta turns a "blind eye" towards. Ghana's team reported anti-choice organizations have used WhatsApp, a Meta-owned platform, to pedal conspiracies around family planning being a method to depopulate Africa and MSI's workers "introducing 'satanic' sexual education in schools to 'destroy the youth.'" 

The Center for Countering Digital Hate's CEO and founder, Imran Ahmed, accuses social media companies of mining "users' personal data in the Global South but take little care to protect local human rights and civil liberties. It reeks of colonialism — the greed, arrogance and double standards in how they treat less-wealthy markets. They have little regard or understanding of the complex cultural and political factors that can deprive people of their legal right to reproductive healthcare, nor do they grasp that the uneven application of their own content moderation policies greatly exacerbates these problems."

According to Google, it can't say why any ad or campaign was blocked without seeing the specific ad or advertiser account. It also said that ads targeting the term pregnancy options in Ghana and the other countries listed aren't prohibited. “This report does not include a single example of policy violating content on Google’s platform, nor any examples of inconsistent enforcement," a Google spokesperson told Engadget. "Without evidence, it claims that some ads were blocked in Ghana for referencing ‘pregnancy options’. To be clear, these types of ads are not prohibited from running in Ghana – if the ads were restricted, it was likely due to our longstanding policies against targeting people based on sensitive health categories, which includes pregnancy.”

Meta is reviewing the findings, but spokesperson, Ryan Daniels told The Guardian: "We allow posts and ads promoting healthcare services, as well as discussion and debate around them. Content about reproductive health must follow our rules, including those on prescription drugs and misinformation, and ads promoting reproductive health products or services may only be targeted to people 18-plus. We prohibit ads that include misinformation or mislead people about services a business provides, and we will review the content of this report."

Engadget has reached out to Meta for further comment. 

Update, March 28 2024, 10:20PM ET: This article has been updated to include a statement and further information from Google. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-and-google-face-claims-of-restricting-reproductive-health-ads-and-fueling-misinformation-132913618.html?src=rss

Google Search and Maps results will confirm if a medical center offers abortions

Posted on by

In the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, Google announced that it is making it easier to use its Maps and Search products to find medical providers that offer abortions. When someone searches for specific services and Google has confirmation that a location provides those services, it'll be clearly labeled in Search and Maps. For example, Google notes that it already does this when you search for EV charging stations or a specific COVID-19 vaccine brand, and now it'll do so for veterans hospitals and healthcare facilities that provide abortions. As you can see in the above image, searching for "abortion clinics near me" will bring up a list of locations that Google has confirmed provide abortion services.

While Google isn't coming right out and saying it, this seems to be an effort to avoid sending people who are searching for medical care to so-called "abortion crisis centers" or anti-abortion centers. For locations that Google doesn't have confirmation for, it'll instead say "might not provide abortions," which serves as a passive but still significant red flag for anyone looking for treatment. In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that anti-abortion centers couldn't be forced to acknowledge abortion as an option, something that outsources that work to private companies like Google. 

Earlier this week, Yelp announced it would take a similar but more definitive step by adding warning labels to anti-abortion centers; these warnings note that such facilities "may not have licensed medical professionals on site." Google says its update has been in the works for months, but it comes at a time where employees have said the company needs to do more to project both users and its contract workers in a post-Roe world.

The fact that Google is getting confirmation from centers that provide abortions should make both Search and Maps results more useful. A Google spokesperson said that "we get confirmation that places provide a particular service in a number of ways, including regularly calling businesses directly and working with authoritative data sources." So users should be able to trust that medical centers that are labeled as providing abortions do in fact offer the service. Google is also making it easy to expand your search if you don't find relevant results nearby with a "search farther away" prompt, another tool that can help people looking for abortion services where clinics are rare. 

Google says these changes will start rolling out today, though they won't immediately be visible to all Google users until a bit later.

Meta says it mistakenly restricted a Planned Parenthood post about abortion pills

Posted on by

Facebook parent company Meta says it by mistake recently removed a Planned Parenthood of Michigan post that included information on where to obtain abortion medication. “A medication abortion is a nonsurgical option for ending a pregnancy in the first trimester. Approved by the FDA for use up to roughly 10 weeks of pregnancy, these medications are highly effective with little risk of serious side effects,” the post said, according to Motherboard (via The Verge), with a link to a website outlining a list of providers.

An alert shared by Planned Parenthood of Michigan spokesperson Ashlea Phenicie said the post was restricted for violating Facebook’s guidelines. “The Community Standards apply to the world, and help keep Facebook safe and welcoming for everyone,” the notification stated.

Abortion is legal in Michigan. The removal occured after Meta admitted in June to “incorrect” moderation of posts about abortion pills. In the days after the Supreme Court’s June 24th decision to overturn Roe v. Wade,Motherboard found that the company had been flagging posts that said “abortion can be mailed.” According to Meta’s Community Standards, content discussing the affordability of prescription medication is allowed on Facebook, but users cannot use the platform to buy, sell, trade, gift, request or donate pharmaceuticals.

Meta says it mistakenly restricted a Planned Parenthood post about abortion pills

Posted on by

Facebook parent company Meta says it by mistake recently removed a Planned Parenthood of Michigan post that included information on where to obtain abortion medication. “A medication abortion is a nonsurgical option for ending a pregnancy in the first trimester. Approved by the FDA for use up to roughly 10 weeks of pregnancy, these medications are highly effective with little risk of serious side effects,” the post said, according to Motherboard (via The Verge), with a link to a website outlining a list of providers.

An alert shared by Planned Parenthood of Michigan spokesperson Ashlea Phenicie said the post was restricted for violating Facebook’s guidelines. “The Community Standards apply to the world, and help keep Facebook safe and welcoming for everyone,” the notification stated.

Abortion is legal in Michigan. The removal occured after Meta admitted in June to “incorrect” moderation of posts about abortion pills. In the days after the Supreme Court’s June 24th decision to overturn Roe v. Wade,Motherboard found that the company had been flagging posts that said “abortion can be mailed.” According to Meta’s Community Standards, content discussing the affordability of prescription medication is allowed on Facebook, but users cannot use the platform to buy, sell, trade, gift, request or donate pharmaceuticals.

Yelp adds a warning label to anti-abortion center listings

Posted on by

Starting today, Yelp will apply a label to business pages for crisis pregnancy centers (also known as anti-abortion centers) to clarify that these facilities usually have limited medical services. The label also notes that crisis pregnancy centers "may not have licensed medical professionals onsite." The consumer notice could help people avoid confusion with clinics that offer abortion services.

In a blog post, Yelp said it was making the change following the US Supreme Court's decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade, a ruling that conferred a nationwide right to safe abortion access for nearly 50 years. "The trust and safety of our community is a top priority, which is why providing consumers with reliable and useful information to help inform their decisions is critical to our mission — this includes access to reliable information about reproductive health services," Yelp wrote.

Yelp crisis pregnancy center label
Yelp

Many crisis pregnancy centers have religious affiliations, as the Associated Presspreviously reported. Some are said to provide misleading information about abortion and contraception.

Yelp has reviewed tens of thousands of business listings since 2018 with the aim of ensuring crisis pregnancy centers are differentiated from abortion clinics. It noted that moderators have reclassified almost 470 businesses as crisis pregnancy centers or faith-based crisis pregnancy centers this year alone in the US, after reviewing nearly 33,500 business pages. It plans to review more than 55,000 business pages across the US, Canada and Puerto Rico in the coming months.

This is an issue that other tech companies have been contending with. Last week, the Alphabet Workers Union demanded that Google address "misleading search results related to abortion services by removing results for fake abortion providers." Democratic lawmakers have asked Google to stop directing people seeking an abortion to anti-abortion facilities, while some Republican attorneys general warned the company not to limit such centers from appearing in search results. In early July, Google said it would delete abortion clinic visits from user location histories.

Yelp adds a warning label to anti-abortion center listings

Posted on by

Starting today, Yelp will apply a label to business pages for crisis pregnancy centers (also known as anti-abortion centers) to clarify that these facilities usually have limited medical services. The label also notes that crisis pregnancy centers "may not have licensed medical professionals onsite." The consumer notice could help people avoid confusion with clinics that offer abortion services.

In a blog post, Yelp said it was making the change following the US Supreme Court's decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade, a ruling that conferred a nationwide right to safe abortion access for nearly 50 years. "The trust and safety of our community is a top priority, which is why providing consumers with reliable and useful information to help inform their decisions is critical to our mission — this includes access to reliable information about reproductive health services," Yelp wrote.

Yelp crisis pregnancy center label
Yelp

Many crisis pregnancy centers have religious affiliations, as the Associated Presspreviously reported. Some are said to provide misleading information about abortion and contraception.

Yelp has reviewed tens of thousands of business listings since 2018 with the aim of ensuring crisis pregnancy centers are differentiated from abortion clinics. It noted that moderators have reclassified almost 470 businesses as crisis pregnancy centers or faith-based crisis pregnancy centers this year alone in the US, after reviewing nearly 33,500 business pages. It plans to review more than 55,000 business pages across the US, Canada and Puerto Rico in the coming months.

This is an issue that other tech companies have been contending with. Last week, the Alphabet Workers Union demanded that Google address "misleading search results related to abortion services by removing results for fake abortion providers." Democratic lawmakers have asked Google to stop directing people seeking an abortion to anti-abortion facilities, while some Republican attorneys general warned the company not to limit such centers from appearing in search results. In early July, Google said it would delete abortion clinic visits from user location histories.

Nearly 600 more TV writers call for Netflix, Apple to detail abortion safety policies

Posted on by

Last week, more than 400 TV showrunners, writers and producers called on streaming giants and traditional Hollywood studios to offer improved protections for workers in states where abortions are banned or limited. Now, 594 other industry figures (many, if not all of whom are male) have pledged their support, as Variety reports. They include Jordan Peele, Taika Waititi, Jason Sudekis, Ryan Murphy, Donald Glover and JJ Abrams.

The signatories said they were standing in solidarity with their “female, trans and non-binary showrunner colleagues [...] in demanding a coordinated and timely response from our employers regarding the imminent workplace-safety crisis created by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Abortion access doesn’t only affect people who can become pregnant. It affects us all."

In late June, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a ruling that conferred a nationwide right to abortion for almost half a century. Numerous states banned or severely restricted abortion access after the decision.

The initial letter was signed by the likes of Issa Rae, Lilly Wachowski, Lena Waithe, Amy Schumer, Shonda Rhimes, Mindy Kaling and Ava DuVernay. It was sent to Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Apple, NBC Universal, Amazon, Lionsgate and AMC.

The more than 1,000 industry figures who sent the letters are calling for details about studios' abortion travel subsidies, care policies for “ectopic pregnancies and other pregnancy complications” that occur during a production and legal safeguards for those who help a production worker get an abortion. The signatories also demanded that studios “discontinue all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political action committees immediately.”

Those who signed the letters want the studios to respond by August 10th. The letters did not detail what may happen if the companies don't reply by then. Studios have previously said they would reimburse travel expenses for those who had to leave a state to get an abortion.

Thanks to its generous tax incentives for film and TV productions, Georgia has become a powerhouse in the entertainment industry, which is worth billions of dollars to the local economy. In 2019, several studios, including Netflix, said they'd reconsider setting up projects in the state if a so-called heartbeat law came into effect (the legislation bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected). A federal appeals court allowed the law to take effect last month.

Hundreds of TV writers call on Netflix, Apple to improve safety measures in anti-abortion states

Posted on by

A group of 411 TV showrunners, creators and writers sent letters to executives at streaming platforms and other major Hollywood companies to demand better protections for workers in anti-abortion states. "We have grave concerns about the lack of specific production protocols in place to protect those at work for Netflix in anti-abortion states," they wrote in a letter to Netflix. “It is unacceptable to ask any person to choose between their human rights and their employment.” 

Similar letters, which were first reported on by Variety, were addressed to the likes of Apple, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC Universal, Paramount, Lionsgate, Amazon and AMC. The signatories include well-known creators, such as Issa Rae, Lilly Wachowski, Lena Waithe, Amy Schumer, Shonda Rhimes, Mindy Kaling, Ava DuVernay and Lena Dunham. They're demanding specific safety measures for people working on productions in states that have banned abortion after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month.

The group has demanded that the companies respond with details on their abortion safety plans within 10 days. Among other things, the writers want information on abortion travel subsidies, medical care for pregnancy complications (including ectopic pregnancies) and legal protections for workers who uphold a studio's abortion policies or help someone else obtain an abortion. They also implored the companies to immediately halt “all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political action committees."

A Bloomberg report this week noted that studios are spending billions on productions in states that have banned or restricted abortions, though many were already filming before the Supreme Court decision in late June. Georgia, for instance, offers generous tax credits to productions, which has helped the state become a TV and film powerhouse. Last week, a law came into effect in the state. It essentially banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, which is before many people know whether they're pregnant.

Hundreds of TV writers call on Netflix, Apple to improve safety measures in anti-abortion states

Posted on by

A group of 411 TV showrunners, creators and writers sent letters to executives at streaming platforms and other major Hollywood companies to demand better protections for workers in anti-abortion states. "We have grave concerns about the lack of specific production protocols in place to protect those at work for Netflix in anti-abortion states," they wrote in a letter to Netflix. “It is unacceptable to ask any person to choose between their human rights and their employment.” 

Similar letters, which were first reported on by Variety, were addressed to the likes of Apple, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC Universal, Paramount, Lionsgate, Amazon and AMC. The signatories include well-known creators, such as Issa Rae, Lilly Wachowski, Lena Waithe, Amy Schumer, Shonda Rhimes, Mindy Kaling, Ava DuVernay and Lena Dunham. They're demanding specific safety measures for people working on productions in states that have banned abortion after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month.

The group has demanded that the companies respond with details on their abortion safety plans within 10 days. Among other things, the writers want information on abortion travel subsidies, medical care for pregnancy complications (including ectopic pregnancies) and legal protections for workers who uphold a studio's abortion policies or help someone else obtain an abortion. They also implored the companies to immediately halt “all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political action committees."

A Bloomberg report this week noted that studios are spending billions on productions in states that have banned or restricted abortions, though many were already filming before the Supreme Court decision in late June. Georgia, for instance, offers generous tax credits to productions, which has helped the state become a TV and film powerhouse. Last week, a law came into effect in the state. It essentially banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, which is before many people know whether they're pregnant.